Might Be Lost
by Llyzbeth
Summary: Hoshi and Trip are trapped on a dead planet, and their enemies are getting closer.
1. Chapter 1

Thanks to: My twin Kathryn, Beta Numero Uno, who definitely deserves co- author status on this one.  
  
Disclaimer: Enterprise is not mine. Darnit.  
  
Feedback: Shamelessly begged for.  
  
Archiving: Ask and it's yours.  
  
"The way to love anything is to realize that it might be lost." C.K. Chesterton  
  
A long corridor deep underground. Stone walls receded into the distance, dimly lit by cracked and dusty panels flickering near the ground. Here and there piles of rock showed where walls or ceilings had collapsed, and never been repaired. Branching off the main hallway were small rooms and other passages.  
  
Out of one of those passages ran Hoshi and Trip, breathing hard and looking over their shoulders.  
  
"I think..we lost them.." panted Hoshi, peering back around the corner while Trip rested his hands on his knees and tried to get his breath back.  
  
Voices floated down the tunnel towards them. Throwing each other a startled look, they took off again down the passage.  
  
After a few moments Trip reached out and pulled Hoshi with him into one of the small, abandoned rooms. They flattened themselves against the wall and listened.  
  
Silence.  
  
Sighing in relief, they slid down to sit on the floor.  
  
"Any idea where we are?" Hoshi asked, wiping sweat out of her eyes.  
  
"Nope," Trip said, pulling out his communicator. "I lost track about four turns back." He pushed a few buttons on the communicator, stared at it for a moment, and blew out a breath in frustration, leaning his head against the wall. "We're not any closer to the surface, though. Still no signal."  
  
"How long've we been down here?"  
  
"Ah..say four, maybe five hours."  
  
"You think anybody from Enterprise is down here looking for us?"  
  
"Considerin' how well that worked the LAST time, I doubt it." He shook his head, putting the communicator away. "Damn Vulcans'll be laughin their ears off when they hear about this one," he snarled.  
  
"It's really not that funny."  
  
"Are you kiddin'? Captain gets captured, we rush in all guns blazing to rescue 'im, and end up getting left behind, runnin like rats in tunnels and hoping somebody'll come along and rescue US! We're looking at one great big 'I TOLD ya so' if they ever find out."  
  
"I won't tell them if you won't."  
  
"Deal."  
  
They looked at each other, and the ridiculousness of the situation was too much. They started to laugh.  
  
"Wonder what T'pol said when the Captain got back and told 'er the rescue party needs rescuin'," Trip said between chuckles.  
  
"Probably nothing. Her eyebrow just hit the ceiling."  
  
More laughing. They almost had the giggles under control when Trip mumbled "Vulcan Death Glare" and that set them off again.  
  
When they were quiet again Hoshi looked over at Trip. "At least we got the Captain out."  
  
"That's somethin' anyway," Trip agreed. "If we can get closer to the surface Malcolm can use the transporter on us too."  
  
"The Hadrigans have to know that, from the way they keep herding us deeper underground."  
  
"Yeah, but if we keep doubling back we're bound to get behind 'em. We'll be back on Enterprise in no time."  
  
"You said that five hours ago."  
  
"C'mon, this'll be a piece of cake."  
  
"You said THAT five hours ago too."  
  
Trip mock-glared at her. "You doubting my leadership abilities, Ensign?"  
  
"Not at all, Commander." She smiled sweetly at him. "Lead on."  
  
Grumbling under his breath, Trip looked carefully around the door. "Next best thing to an exit out of this place would be some water," he said, mostly to himself. Looking back at Hoshi he said "I wanna check some of those old storerooms we passed. Might be some old supplies that didn't get totally pulverized in their last war."  
  
She nodded, checking the settings on their one-and-only phaser ('I hope the Hadrigan who swiped the other one accidentally blows himself up' she thought grumpily) and got to her feet.  
  
--------------  
  
Four storerooms later and they still hadn't found water, an exit, or anything remotely useful. The last war had been a bad one, apparently, and everything salvageable had been scavenged out of this area a long time ago.  
  
Hoshi was checking the back wall for a possible hidden door when colorful swearing floated up from the other end of the room.  
  
"You okay commander?"  
  
"Just squashed my thumb is all." He laughed. "Hey, are we gettin' hazard pay while we're down here."  
  
"Yeah, but I think that's more for the people shooting at us than for your thumb."  
  
"Some shore-leave this is."  
  
"What, you don't think this is a good vacation spot?"  
  
"I'm thirsty and tired and my thumb hurts. And people keep shooting at me. I'm gonna lodge a complaint."  
  
"Get all your money back."  
  
"I'll sue, I'll sue!"  
  
Hoshi laughed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and swiping at the dust on her face as she carefully looked under another empty canister.  
  
Trip stood, and was stretching his back to work out some of the kinks when he heard a very faint click, a hiss, and a frightened gasp.  
  
He spun around. "Hoshi..?"  
  
"Gas," she coughed. "Run Trip!" He watched her take two running steps away from the orange cloud, and then fall to the ground.  
  
Swearing, he took a deep breath of clean air and dove towards her. 'Damn Hadrigans and their damn wars and their goddamn leftover traps,' he thought as he ran.  
  
She was crawling forward, her hands clawing at the dirt floor, but it looked like she was having trouble keeping her head up.  
  
'Don't let it be bad don't let it be bad,' he thought over and over as he scooped her up and ran for the door. 'Mild bio-toxin, something fixable. Not Azmirol, not Damix, please please god not Sarin.'  
  
He ran until the air was burning in his lungs before he felt safe enough to set her down behind a collapsed wall. But she was so still, just dead weight; he had to hold her head up with one hand to keep it from hitting the ground.  
  
"Hoshi!" he tilted her head back to see her face, his other hand on her neck, trying to find a pulse. "C'mon Hoshi, stay with me, don't.." He saw her face. Her eyes were open, wide, terrified. Her pulse slammed against his fingertips.  
  
"It's okay, it's okay, you're gonna be alright.." he was babbling, he knew it, but anything to calm her down. "Can you move at all?"  
  
"Nh.." only the slightest noise, little more than a breath.  
  
"Can you feel your fingers and toes?"  
  
She just blinked frantically, her eyes staring off at nothing.  
  
"Hoshi! Hey! Look at me!" He patted the sides of her face, not sure if she'd even notice. But her eyes snapped to his face again, and that was something at least. "Your fingers!" he shouted. "Can you feel 'em?" He reached down and grabbed her hand, lacing his fingers with hers and squeezing. "I've got your hand, can you feel that?"  
  
"Yh," she breathed, and he saw her take a deeper breath, try to force the word out. "Y..ssssss."  
  
"Okay. That's good. I mean, not GOOD good, but.." he took a deep breath. 'Calm down ya dummy,' he told himself. 'She's scared enough as is.' "It's not as bad as it coulda been. The gas wiped out some voluntary muscle control, but that's it. We'll get ya back up to the ship and Phlox'll do some magic and you'll be fine. Just stay calm, okay?" He tried to smile at her, and squeezed her hand again. Her hand twitched very slightly, and she blinked at him.  
  
Carefully, he eased her down onto the ground, but kept her hand in his. He waited there a minute, watching her, making sure her chest kept rising and falling.  
  
A noise very very far back in the tunnels made him look up. Suddenly remembering that they had a lot more problems besides the obvious one, Trip leaned close to Hoshi's face.  
  
"I've gotta leave ya a minute," he whispered quickly. "I haven't a clue where we ended up, and I gotta make sure the Hadrigans aren't gonna stumble across us, and we still need some water. I'll be back soon, I promise."  
  
Her eyes were wide again, but he could see the corners of her lips turn up every so slightly, trying hard to smile. Her lips moved, and he leaned down to hear her.  
  
"Cr..ffull.."  
  
He smiled. "'Course. I'll be plenty careful, back before you know it." He placed her hand across her stomach, and stood up. He debated leaving the phaser with her, but reluctantly decided there was too good a chance someone could take it away from her. He took it from the belt at her side and ran down the passageway before he could change his mind. 


	2. Chapter 2

Two hours later found him swearing at himself furiously. He'd found a canteen of water in another storeroom, but twice he'd almost walked right into a Hadrigan search party, and almost gotten himself lost while avoiding them. He knew exhaustion was mostly to blame for his carelessness, but excuses weren't worth a damn when he'd left Hoshi to fend for herself all this time.  
  
He was almost back to where he'd left her when he heard a noise from the other side of the collapsed wall. Raising the phaser, he eased his head around the debris, trying to see what might be back there with her in the darkness.  
  
She was alone, her eyes closed and her hands in claws at her side as a seizure arched her back and pounded her head against the ground.  
  
Trip dropped the phaser and ran to her, sliding his hands under her head. He didn't think she was breathing. "Hoshi?" he shouted. . 'How long how long?' he thought, cursing himself for not being there sooner. "Breathe Hoshi! Stay with me!"  
  
For an endless moment she stayed rigid; the skin under his hands felt like wood. Then, between one second and the next, she relaxed. He heard her draw in a shuddering breath, and then cough weakly.  
  
"Hosh..?"  
  
"M'ok," she whispered.  
  
"I found some water," he said, feeling stupid and helpless. "Think you can drink something?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Here.."Gently, he pulled her up against him so he she was somewhat upright. He tilted the bottle very slightly against her lips, and let a careful sip spill into her mouth. After a few moments she closed her mouth, and a drop trailed down her cheek. "Sorry," he mumbled, putting the bottle down and using his hand to wipe away some of the water. Only there was more of it than he though, it was getting into her eyes.  
  
It took his exhausted brain a few seconds to realize she was crying.  
  
"Don't, oh god I'm sorry Hosh, please don't cry." He swallowed the lump in his throat, he couldn't stand it, to see her so frightened.  
  
"Sssory," she whispered, blinking up at him. "Just..scared.."  
  
God, she felt so breakable, her arms were like sticks wrapped in cloth, so still. Like a puppet, he thought, with all the strings cut.  
  
He folded himself around her, circling her with his arms, and rocked her gently. "S'okay," he whispered into her hair. "I gotcha."  
  
-------------------------  
  
Hoshi blinked into the dimness, gradually realizing that she was awake. For a wonderful half-asleep moment, she forgot where she was. She just knew she was comfortable, warm, safe, wrapped in Trip's arms.  
  
Trip..waitaminute..  
  
Normally the shock of remembering would've made her bolt upright. Now, she just twitched. Slightly.  
  
She suddenly remembered all her nightmares where she couldn't move and couldn't breathe, suffocating until with all her strength she finally moved an arm, her head, anything. She closed her eyes and thought 'Wake up, wake UP!'  
  
She opened her eyes.  
  
Nothing. Still here.  
  
She was vaguely aware of her heart racing, the panic that made her breathe in short gasps. It was almost like it was happening to someone else.  
  
She closed her eyes again. 'Calm.' She drew the word out in her mind, in as many languages as she could remember. Calm, calme, ruhe, ethimagri, foss, hyi, t'chalo..  
  
She opened her eyes. And listened.  
  
Trip's easy breathing told her he was asleep, his chin resting lightly on her head.  
  
She couldn't hear anything else.  
  
But SOMEthing had woken her up.  
  
She held her breath, willing her ears to pick up something, any..  
  
There.  
  
A small tone, somewhere far down the corridor. A hum, or whistle, almost like wind in the tunnels.  
  
Or feedback from a communicator, quickly silenced.  
  
'Time to go,' she thought, taking a deep breath. Looking down where her hand rested curled against Trip's chest, she willed it to move. Demanded it to move. Pleaded, begged, and hoped that it would just move the tiniest bit, just enough to..  
  
She reached up and touched Trip's face.  
  
He woke instantly, looking down at her.  
  
"Company," she whispered. 


	3. Chapter 3

They sat frozen in the darkness, waiting. The next noise was much closer this time.  
  
"Can you move?" he whispered into her ear, barely audible.  
  
"Some," she answered. With another huge effort she brought her hand up to grip his arm. "Hurts."  
  
Slowly, he eased her back so she was leaning against the stone wall. He picked up the phaser and closed her hands around it. It was frightening how he couldn't shake the idea of her as a broken puppet. Her hands, normally delicate, now seemed lifeless and unnatural when he slid her fingers onto the trigger, and as he carefully bent her knees so her hands could rest on them, he kept feeling like he leaving her the way you'd leave a mannequin, so the enemy would think it was a real person while you made a getaway..  
  
'Knock it off,' he snarled at himself silently as he brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. She was staring at him and shaking her head very slightly. He thought she was trying to tell him to stay. "I know I know, I don't wanna leave you here again, but they're too close for us to outrun together. I figure I'll lead 'em off and come back for you."  
  
"No," she said. "Phaser." She managed to hold her hands out towards him. "You'll..need..it."  
  
And she WOULD sit here without a weapon, he knew it. She'd already been left by herself once before, and now he was leaving her again, and she wanted HIM to take the phaser.  
  
Kneeling in front of her, he grabbed her shoulders and looked straight into her face. "I am NOT leaving you here without a weapon. Not again. Anybody comes close, you blow their head the hell off, you got it?"  
  
She nodded, and he winced at how much pain that one movement caused her. He wanted nothing more than to just pick her up and make a run for it together, but he knew he was too tired to get far if he carried her. At least this way maybe he could buy enough time for Enterprise to find her and get her out of here.  
  
Squeezing her shoulders one last time, he stood up and braced a scrap piece of metal against the wall over her, hoping for camouflage. His last glimpse of her, looking brave and very very small, more than ever like a porcelain doll, somehow made him feel strong and worthless at the same time. 'I SO don't deserve that kinda trust,' he thought as he headed down the corridor.  
  
Picking up a length of wood, he ran, making no effort to be quiet. Far down the hallway he passed a doorway, and stopped as a thought struck him. Looking inside he muttered "yeah, I thought so." He waited until he saw figures down the corridor running in his direction. Then he ran inside the room, kicked at a pile of debris, and ran out the doorway on the other side. Looking back over his shoulder he could just barely make out the orange cloud billowing out the door, and heard the coughing from the Hadrigans as they ran right into it. 'That's for you, Hoshi,' he thought, and kept running.  
  
He heard a shout, and as soon as a head peered around a corner he dodged down a side passageway. He stopped just past the corner, and kicked a piece of rubble down the hall, hoping whoever was chasing him would think he'd kept running.  
  
It worked. A bulky Hadrigan came charging around the corner. Trip swung the wood like a baseball bat and connected with a very satisfying thud.  
  
Not satisfying enough, unfortunately. A human would have been unconscious or worse after a blow like that. The Hadrigan just looked dazed. "Damn exoskeletons," Trip muttered, and swung again.  
  
The Hadrigan shook its head, and caught the piece of wood as Trip swung a third time. The alien bared blunt teeth at him, and squeezed. The piece of wood crumbled into splinters.  
  
'Oh that's just great,' Trip thought, and took off down the corridor again, ducking as the pieces of wood went flying past him. He took two more random turns, charged up a steep ramp, and was looking over his shoulder when he skittered to a halt.  
  
To his complete surprise, he found himself standing outside, looking up in amazement at the night sky.  
  
'Well I'll be a sun-dried sapsucker..so THAT'S how you get out. Bout damn time. Now all I gotta do is grab Hoshi and sneak outta here and we'll be..'  
  
The muzzle of a phaser dug sharply into his neck. Two hands clamped down on his shoulders, and he found himself being dragged back inside the tunnel.  
  
"Son of a bitch," he muttered, watching the doorway full of stars dwindle into the distance. 


	4. Chapter 4

The two guards brought him before a third Hadrigan, who was wearing what might have once been a dress uniform. After years of scavenging and guerrilla warfare it looked more like something dragged out from under a demolished building (which it probably was, now that Trip thought about it) but some attempt had been made to make it look official. Trip looked at the broken medals pinned to the shoulders and thought the whole effect would have been pathetic, if it hadn't seemed so ominous.  
  
"You are from Enterprise," the apparent leader said. Trip wasn't surprised at being able to understand him; the Captain had said the Hadrigans had stolen a UT from the landing party.  
  
When Trip didn't answer, the Hadrigan continued. "Your attempts at escape were ill-advised. Your evasive skills are no match for our tracking abilities."  
  
"Well I see you're getting a lot of use outta OUR phaser and OUR Universal Translator," Trip sneered.  
  
"Yes, they are quite helpful," the leader said with complete lack of sarcasm  
  
The Hadrigan guards each took one of Trip's hands in theirs. Damn stupid way to secure a prisoner, Trip thought, getting ready to kick as soon as someone got close enough.  
  
The leader stood facing him, but not so close that he was in kicking range. Trip looked down at his hands and then back up at the leader, smiling. "We gonna start dancing around in a circle now, or are we just goin' steady.." The two guards suddenly squeezed, grinding the bones in his hands against each other. The pain forced him to his knees with a strangled shout. Just before bones could break, the pressure eased off.  
  
Panting, he stared at the floor for a moment before looking up at the leader. "Aren't you s'posed to ask me some questions before you start in on that?"  
  
"A demonstration," the leader said in an eerie monotone.  
  
When he didn't continue, Trip said "Okaaay, so now what do.." the guards squeezed again, and this time from his right hand there was an audible snap. Trip ground his teeth together to keep from screaming as the pain surged up his arms to meet with the roaring in his ears. The moment before he was sure he'd black out, the pressure receded again.  
  
"Speak only when you are spoken to," the leader said calmly.  
  
Trip glared murderously at the Hadrigan, who stared back, unimpressed.  
  
"We require more of your technology in order to turn the course of this war," the leader said.  
  
"WHAT wa.." there was a warning pressure on his hands, and Trip bit off the end of his question.  
  
"First, there is one other from Enterprise with you. You will tell us their location."  
  
"There's no one with me, I'm alone." The guards slowly gripped his hands tighter. "It's the truth! Everybody else got back to the ship, there's only me.." the pressure reached an unbearable level, and backed off again. Trip blinked sweat out of his eyes and lifted his head to look at the leader.  
  
"We do not believe you," it said. "But it is unimportant. We will find the other. We are more concerned with the technology aboard the Enterprise. We were unable to obtain much information from your Captain before your interference. You will give us any information available on the technology of the Enterprise."  
  
Trip just glared at it.  
  
The leader's voice took on a somewhat harder edge. "It is in your best interest to comply. You will assist us. We will win this war at any cost. The patriots of Hadria will rule this planet again."  
  
"Patriots??" Trip blurted, ignoring the sudden crushing pressure by the guards. "You're just a bunch of goddam pirates!" It felt like every bone was being crumbled into powder. "Ignorant, thick-headed, brainless thieves!" He was scared to look at his hands anymore. "The planet's DEAD, the war's OVER you sorry excuse for a lifeform!" He could hear his breath coming in sobbing gasps. "Good job, you killed everybody, now deal with it your damn self and leave the rest of us out.." and the rest was lost in a hoarse scream and the sickening popping sounds coming from his hands. He sagged between the two guards, his chest tight and every tendon rigid with the effort to not beg, don't beg, don't give in, don't..  
  
A flash, and the leader was on the ground. He felt the guard on his left jerk as another flash cut through the dark, and the last guard had time to fire off one badly aimed shot before he too dropped to the ground.  
  
He looked up, and through a haze saw Hoshi, standing in the doorway, phaser held firmly between both hands.  
  
He stared at her in amazement. "Strings," he blurted. She gave him a puzzled look, and he said "Got your strings back." The words were just sort of dropping out of his mouth, they sounded like they were coming from someone else. He shook his head to clear it, and suddenly noticed that she'd propped herself against the doorframe to keep from falling, and that the phaser in her hands was trembling violently.  
  
Lurching to his feet, he stumbled over to her. "Lemmie guess," he said, trying for a nonchalant grin. "It was all an act, just waitin' for a chance to swoop in and do the big hero, last second rescue, right?"  
  
"Course," she said faintly as she dropped the phaser and started to slide to the ground.  
  
Half-laughing, he tried to brace her upright without using his mangled hands. "And to think I was worried about YOU. Faker."  
  
Her laugh was cut off by a gasp as she looked down. "Oh..Trip, your hands," she whispered.  
  
He closed his eyes briefly. 'Not looking not looking not looking' he told himself firmly. "I'll be okay, but I'd sure like to get back to the ship right about now. Can ya walk?"  
  
"Little.."  
  
"There's a ramp 'bout ten, eleven yards thataway. If we can get to the top of it, we outta be close enough to the surface to call home."  
  
With Hoshi's arm around Trip's waist, and his arm resting over her shoulder, they managed to hold each other up as they made their way down the corridor.  
  
They only paused once or twice to rest, just for a moment. Counting to himself, Trip figured they'd accounted for all of the Hadrigan guards. Hoshi wasn't so sure. The phaser in her free hand felt very small and insignificant.  
  
Trip, who wasn't thinking very clearly any more, was vaguely worried about the blood he was getting on Hoshi's uniform. He half-dozed, and imagined Hoshi-the-puppet was trying to tie the bones in his hands together with her strings.  
  
"..wrap them..?" Hoshi was asking.  
  
"Mm..?" He shook himself awake and looked at her.  
  
"Should we..wrap them with..something?" she asked, every breath feeling raw.  
  
"I don't think I could stand to have 'em touched right now, darlin'," he said between breaths, trying to concentrate on something else other than the excruciating pain where his hands used to be. "I'll be fine." He looked over at her. Her face was very pale in the darkness; she looked faded and bruised. "You okay?"  
  
"..be fine.." she echoed. "Little..hard to breathe.." All the nerve endings in her arms and legs felt scraped bare, and her lungs couldn't seem to draw in enough air.  
  
He tightened his arm around her shoulder. "We can make it. Few more steps is all."  
  
There was a timeless moment next. Everything seemed grey, featureless, unimportant. The echoes of their footsteps were swallowed up, leaving only flat, empty sounds. Pain didn't come from separate places anymore, or even separate people. It just surrounded them entirely, something they noticed, accepted, and tried to ignore. Reality sort of dropped away, and there was only one step in front of the other and ragged breaths and the flickering lights near the ground.  
  
A breeze stirred the dust at their feet.  
  
They stopped, looked at each other, and looked back.  
  
The entrance to the tunnel was far behind them. They'd left it some time ago and never noticed.  
  
They sank to the ground, clinging to each other, laughing and crying in relief. "The communicator," Trip whispered hoarsely, his head against hers. "Can you manage it?"  
  
With fingers that felt wrapped in clay and splinters, Hoshi managed to get the communicator off of Trip's belt, and signal the ship.  
  
"TRIP, HOSHI?" Archer's reply was immediate. "WHERE ARE YOU, WHAT'S HAPPENED?"  
  
"Get us out of here," Trip panted, leaning against Hoshi as she held the communicator in cupped hands. "And tell the Doc to get ready. We need some help."  
  
"WILL DO, HANG ON, MALCOM'S LOCKING ON TO YOU NOW. I THINK HE CAN GET YOU BOTH AT THE SAME TIME."  
  
They sat, huddled together, looking up at the sky.  
  
"Charles?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Thank you."  
  
"You're more'n welcome," he said quietly. "Wouldn't have made it without you."  
  
The light from the transporter covered them, and they were gone.  
  
---------  
  
"Watch it, that smarts!"  
  
Hoshi woke up slowly, blinking at the overhead lights in sickbay.  
  
"Commander, this will be much easier if you could hold still for a moment."  
  
"I'm holdin' plenty still."  
  
"Restraints would be helpful."  
  
"I already said no didn't I?"  
  
Cautiously, Hoshi raised her hand, and stared wonderingly at her fingers. They moved easily. She waved at herself, and then laughed.  
  
Trip appeared beside her bed. "Hey," he said quietly. "You're awake." He gently sat on the edge of the bed. And almost fell off. Sitting again, he grinned at her. "Sorry, pain killers. Feelin' a little goofy."  
  
His hands were hidden in a gauze-like cloth, and she opened her mouth to ask, but he quickly interrupted. "They're FINE. I'm fine. You're fine. Dehydrated, tired, and beat all the hell up, but we're gonna be fine."  
  
"The Hadrigans.."  
  
"We've told Starfleet and the Vulcans, and put out a warning beacon besides. They can't get off-planet because they haven't got the technology, so just as long as nobody lands there, they can't cause any trouble." He shrugged. "Captain says in a few years Starfleet might try to contact 'em again. Depends on how they're behaving I s'pose. We'll just be more careful the next time."  
  
She smiled sleepily. "Did the Vulcans..laugh at us?"  
  
He smiled back. "Not so's you'd notice." He leaned forward and whispered conspiratorily "But T'pol was doing that Vulcan Death Glare like it was goin' outta style, so you might wanna watch out fer.."  
  
"Commander Tucker." Doctor Phlox's half-amused, half-annoyed voice floated up from outside her line of sight. "Your hands are not going to repair themselves on their own." And then his voice softened. "She needs her sleep. You can talk again in a few hours."  
  
Trip nodded at her. "Sleep tight."  
  
"You too."  
  
"See ya in a few hours."  
  
Phlox's voice. "Commander.."  
  
"I'm coming I'm coming." Trip grinned at her again, and let Phlox lead him away.  
  
Hoshi smiled. "See you.." she said. Or tried to say.  
  
She fell asleep. 


	5. Chapter 5

Hoshi walked down the quiet corridors of Enterprise yawning and rubbing sleep out of her eyes. Just past two in the morning, the only sound was the hum of the engines. She had the hallways to herself, which was just as well, seeing as how she couldn't keep from smiling and doing silly little bounces on her toes. Who would've thought just WALKING would feel so nice?  
  
Opening the door to the mess hall, she squinted into the dimness, trying to see if anybody else was around.  
  
"Well hi, you're up!"  
  
Hoshi looked around, smiling wider when she saw Trip sitting at the table nearest the door. She clasped her hands behind her back, feeling suddenly shy.  
  
"Hi yourself," she said as she walked over. "Been waiting long?"  
  
"Little bit. I tried to hang around for a while after I woke up, but Phlox kicked me out for bein' in the way and told me to go eat something or else he'd put me under again."  
  
"Yeah, he said you'd be here."  
  
Hoshi thought 'He watched me sleep,' and Trip thought 'She asked where I was.' And they knew what the other knew, and smiled, and didn't need to say it.  
  
"Need any help with that?" Trip asked as she picked up a small bowl of sliced fruit from the dispenser.  
  
"I think I'm okay." Balancing a fork on top of the bowl, she gingerly walked over to where Trip sat, and slid gratefully into a chair next to him. "What're you eating?" she asked. And then blinked at him. "Wait a minute, HOW are you eating? What about.."  
  
Grinning, Trip held up a hand with a dramatic flourish. When Hoshi looked closely, she could see a transparent sheen covering it.  
  
"Pretty neat, huh?" He banged his hand on the table, and at her surprised laugh said "They're shockproof, waterproof, practically indestructible."  
  
"Is it.."  
  
"Uncomfortable as all get out? You bet. But Phlox says I'll only need to wear 'em two days and the bones'll be all set. Beats the hell out of wearin a cast for months on end."  
  
Curious, Hoshi reached out and touched his hand. The surface was smooth and cool, more like metal than plastic. She slid her palm down to where it ended at his wrist. Holding her fingers on the warmth of his skin for a moment, she risked a glance up at his face. He was looking at her so intently she blushed and looked down.  
  
"So how DO you eat with that on?"  
  
Trip shook his head as if to clear it, and laughed. "Here, check this out.." He carefully set one hand close to the plate, and used the other hand to nudge a grape on top of it. Grinning, he lifted it to his mouth and ate it just before it could fall. Hoshi applauded.  
  
"Pretty impressive," she said, grinning back as she lifted her fork. And then almost dropped it. "Sorry," she said with a lopsided smile. "Dr. Phlox said there'd be some lingering effects. My fingers are all weird. I have to sort of stare at them and think hard about what I want them to do." She shook her head as she concentrated on spearing some pears with the fork. "It's like trying eat with puppets."  
  
Puppet. He paused, looking at her, a half smile on his face, watching her eat. She looked up and caught him watching.  
  
"What?" she said.  
  
He started, looked sheepish for a second, and smiled as he reached for the glass. "Nuthin. Just..no, nuthin." He nudged the glass over to himself, but couldn't quite figure out how to pick it up, it kept sliding through his fingers.  
  
"Here," she said, plucking a straw from beside her plate. She put it in his glass, and held it so he could reach it.  
  
Closing his lips on it, he smiled around the straw, and she smiled back, leaning her chin on her hand while she watched him.  
  
End (To be continued.) 


End file.
